Eli Roth & Jack Black In Talks For ‘The House With A Clock In Its Walls’

EXCLUSIVE: Amblin Entertainment and Mythology Entertainment have set Eli Roth to direct and Jack Black to star in The House With A Clock In Its Walls, an adaptation of the 1973 John Bellairs book illustrated by Edward Gorey. It is part of a 12-book series. Eric Kripke wrote the script. Brad Fischer and James Vanderbilt will produce with Kripke. The exec producers include William Sherak, Tracey Nyberg and Laeta Kalogridis.

The novel tells the tale of a recently orphaned 10-year-old boy who discovers a world of hidden passageways, magic and danger in his uncle’s old house.

This puts Roth in another studio picture as MGM just set Roth’s remake Death Wish at Annapurna for a November 22 release, with Bruce Willis reprising the role of the vigilante, and hopes that the film will launch another franchise. Black will next be seen in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, and in the Gus Van Sant-directed Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot. Both are repped by WME.

Mythology is in post on the Luca Guadagnino-directed Suspiria, with Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton and Chloe Grace Moretz. Production has just begun on the Sylvain White-directed Slender Man for Screen Gems.